Derrick Davis brings emotion, history to 'Phantom of the Opera' in Boston

By R. Scott Reedy, Correspondent

Thursday

Sep 14, 2017 at 5:08 AM

As the title character in the North American tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” – returning to the Boston Opera House this week – Derrick Davis gets to don one of the most recognizable costume pieces in musical theater, the iconic mask.

“It is definitely transformative. I remember the mask feeling a little bit claustrophobic the first time I put it on. After a few weeks, however, when I would take it off, I would feel exposed. You definitely feel protected behind the mask,” explained Davis by telephone recently.

Davis, who will mark his one-year anniversary in the role during the show’s Boston run, says that while the mask is very important to the disfigured musical genius who wears it, it tells only part of his story.

“I attack the character as if he is real. In ‘The Music of the Night,’ when he brings the young soprano Christine Daaé down to his lair, it is so he can teach her. In that moment, he is not a disfigured man. He is a teacher and it is all about the lesson.

“The way I see it, all of his emotions are real. He experiences unrequited love for Christine in the triangle with Raoul. He wants desperately to fit in, but does not know how. And when he is angry, he is really angry,” says Davis.

The Phantom’s fits of rage are attention-getting to say the least, but as Davis sees first-hand at every performance, they don’t necessarily turn audiences against the troubled character.

“People walk in and, whether consciously or sub-consciously, have a cathartic experience. They fall in love with the Phantom. They forgive him for dropping the chandelier after all, for killing two people and for starting fires. And they leave the theater lighter.”

Audiences, of course, have had some time to get used to their favorite subterranean-labyrinth resident’s eccentricities and obsessions.

Based on the Gaston Leroux novel of the same name and set in 1881, “The Phantom of the Opera” was first developed for the stage by Lloyd Webber and producer Cameron Mackintosh in 1984. Opening in London’s West End in 1986, and in New York two years later, under the direction of Hal Prince, “Phantom” has become the most successful musical of all time. In addition to London and New York, where it is now the longest-running show on Broadway, productions also continue worldwide.

A first-generation American whose parents were both born in Panama, Davis earned his BFA in musical theater from Long Island University. He played Mufasa in “The Lion King” on Broadway and on tour, and says that doing “Phantom” on tour is the continuation of a long-term relationship he’s had with the musical.

“I was 11 years old when my parents took me to see ‘Phantom’ for the first time. It was my first Broadway show. I fell in love with the show then and I’ve loved it ever since. I’d seen it probably 15 more times before I ever auditioned for it. Between the music and the story, there is so much to it,” says Davis.

Conceived by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by Laurence O’Connor, the “newly reimagined” North American tour launched in November 2013, made its first visit to the Boston Opera House in June 2014, and has already been seen by more than 2 million people. The production features new choreography by Scott Ambler and a new set design by Paul Brown, along with Maria Björnson’s original costume designs.

“This tour is really well done. You have the characters, the music, the spectacle, and a story that is timeless. I trained in opera, so to do opera in musical theater is just perfect. It’s an absolute honor to think that little Derrick Davis from Amityville, N.Y., is performing the lead role in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. It is an amazing and humbling experience,” says the performer.

And while Robert Guillaume starred in a 1990 Los Angeles run of the show and Norm Lewis played the lead on Broadway from May 2014 to February 2015, Davis is the first African American to play the role of the Phantom on tour.

“Having this distinction brings to mind so many different things. On one hand, it feels like I am now a part of this legacy of African-American men playing a role not traditionally held by a black man. And it also puts me in the company of Robert Guillaume and Norm Lewis, both of whom are just amazing. How could I ask for more than that?”

“On the other hand, I feel like it shouldn’t make any difference what color you are as long as you can tell the story. As far as color is concerned, I really believe we’re approaching an era where it won’t matter anymore. My mother tells me all the time, ‘You are Derrick Davis first, then a black man second,’” says Davis.